EE Times updates ‘Silicon 60’ list of emerging startups

Achronix Semiconductor Corp. (San Jose, Calif.) was founded in 2004 and is associated with Cornell University, from which it has licensed patents. In 2008, Achronix introduced FPGAs that operate at clock frequencies up to 1.5 GHz.
www.achronix.com

Adesto Technologies Corp. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) was founded by CEO Narbeh Derhacobian in 2006 and is developing a nonvolatile memory based on programmable metallization cell (PMC) technology licensed from Axon Technologies Corp., a spinoff of Arizona State University. The company is backed by Arch Venture Partners and Applied Ventures, among other venture capital companies.
www.adestotech.com

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.(AMEC; Shanghai, China), founded in 2004, has been described as the Applied Materials of China. AMEC has introduced its initial tools, unveiled its strategy and disclosed plans to go public. It has also locked horns with Applied Materials in legal disputes.
www.amec-inc.com

AutoESL Design Technologies Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.) is offering a product based on high-level synthesis technology licensed from University of California–Los Angeles. It was founded in 2006.
www.autoESL.com

Avnera Corp.(Beaverton, Ore.) is a fabless developer of analog system chips for consumer electronics, mainly in the audio sector. It was founded in early 2004 and has raised $52 million to date in four rounds of financing from Altien Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Best Buy Capital, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, Jafco Ventures, Onkyo Corp., Panasonic Venture Group, Polycom Corp. and Redpoint Ventures.
www.avnera.com

B

Baolab Microsystems SL (Barcelona, Spain) is pioneering the creation of microelectromechanical systems within the back-end-of-line structure of CMOS wafers. It is applying its MEMS technology initially to the field of switching for miniature RF relays inside CMOS, enabling smaller mobile phones. Baolab was founded in July 2003 and is backed by venture capital fund FonsInnocat.
www.baolab.com

Black Sand Technologies Inc. (Austin, Texas) was formed in 2005. The fabless semiconductor company has produced an RF power amplifier in CMOS for 3G communications.
www.blacksand.com

Blue Wonder Communications GmbH (Dresden, Germany) was founded in 2008 and provides LTE intellectual property. The company concluded a funding round in 2009 and claims to already have orders for its technology.
www.bluewondercommunications.com/

Boston Power Inc. (Westborough, Mass.) was founded in 2005 and has made progress in developing longer-lasting, faster-charging lithium-ion batteries.
www.boston-power.com

C

Cognovo Ltd. (Melbourn, U.K.) was founded in July 2009 by the four founders of TTPCom, a developer of protocol stacks for mobile communications that rose to prominence in the 1990s. Cognovo plans to offer software for licensing to developers of software-defined modems with a business model similar to that of TTPCom but aimed at 4G communications. ARM transferred some personnel and intellectual property to the company and took an equity stake in October 2009.
www.cognovo.com

D

D2S Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) is a venture-backed company providing software and IP to enable direct-write e-beam lithography for the production of system-on-chip ICs. The company provides a computational design platform to maximize existing e-beam technology to reduce mask costs for both low and high volume applications.
www.direct2silicon.com

*Dockon Inc. (Reno, Nev.) has developed a novel antenna technology that combines electrical and magnetic elements to achieve new levels of efficiency for a range of wireless systems.
www.dockon.com

E

Efficient Power Conversion Corp. (EPC; El Segundo, Calif.) was founded in November 2007 by three engineers with experience in advanced power management devices. EPC’s CEO, Alex Lidow, is the co-inventor of the HEXFET power MOSFET and, in addition to holding positions in R&D and manufacturing, was the CEO of International Rectifier for 12 years.
www.epc-co.com

Energy Micro A/S (Oslo, Norway), founded by CEO Geir Forre in 2007, develops ARM-based microcontrollers for low-power and battery-operated applications.
www.energymicro.com
Everspin Technologies Inc. (Chandler, Ariz.) was formed as a spinoff of the MRAM activities of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. in 2008.
www.everspin.com

F

*Fresco Logic Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) was founded in 2008 and has developed a controller chip for the USB 3.0 communication specification.
www.frescologic.com

Hello Peter do you know where this information was generated? I'm working with professors who are analyzing the behaviors of founders in the Silicon Valley region. Right now we are trying to find different areas to gather the information. Thanks!!

Umm, SpectraWatt?
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4219234/Intel-s-solar-spinoff-files-for-bankruptcy
Seems like the promising companies are flaming out faster than you can get the list printed.
I view the previous sentence as more sad than sarcastic.

I guess I could do a super list of all the companies that have ever appeared on the Silicon 60.....they are dropping off the list fast at the moment due to acquisitions; OneSpin Solutions being the latest.

Maybe the best that one can hope for is a dump of all companies that have ever appeared on the list and let readers figure that out from their own research. Then you would still have to contend with name changes (e.g., Silicon Forest Labs became Lighthouse Technologies before its acquisition by Mentor Graphics, where the inFact verification technology originated) and relaunches (e.g., Space Codesign in Montreal; disclaimer: I am involved in the 2.0 version of that firm). By the way, I'm not sure if Lighthouse ever appeared in earlier editions of this EE Times list but I hope that Space will, next time!